Known attachments for fixing to a body part of a vehicle referred to in short as the vehicle body, such as bumper cover members, for example, usually comprise in addition to a plastics cover member both a fastening part made from a plastics material that may be fastened to the vehicle body, which fastening part is in contact with the cover member in the assembly state fixed to the vehicle body, and also a reinforcement member which is provided to reinforce a fastening connection providing the fixing. The reinforcement member means that the fastening force supplied by the fastening part provided in each case for fixing the cover member to the vehicle body, such as a screw force, for example, may be distributed over a larger area. In this way, an excessive disadvantageous flow of the plastics material, both of the fastening part and also of the cover member, is effectively avoided.
It is known in the art for the reinforcement members to be configured in the form of a metal rail or from a rigid plastic that is resistant to deformation, even under load. To make assembly easier, it is likewise known in the art for the reinforcement member to be attached to the respective fastening part before the attachment is fixed to the vehicle body, for example held by expanding rivets and/or pre-locked, so that the fastening of the cover member to the vehicle body also includes the assembly step of attaching and/or pre-locking the reinforcement member to the fastening part via additional locking means provided therefor, such as the aforementioned expanding rivets. Alternatively, the reinforcement member may be attached by bonding, clipping or welding.
DE 20 2010 013 931 U1 discloses an attachment configured as a bumper cover member for fixing to a body of a motor vehicle. In addition to the cover member, said attachment comprises a fastening part and a reinforcement member. The fastening part and the reinforcement member each have at least one fastening opening. The attachment may be fastened to the body part via at least one fastening device which extends continuously through the fastening opening of the reinforcement member, the fastening opening of the fastening part and a fastening opening of the cover member. The reinforcement member is provided to reinforce the fastening connection providing the fixing which is referred to in short as the fastening. The fastening part has at least one bearing surface on which the reinforcement member rests at least sectionally in the fastening state. In the assembly state, the fastening part is in contact with the cover member. In order to hold the reinforcement member on the fastening part, a hook-shaped suspension device and at least one catch member are provided. The suspension device and the catch member are moulded onto the fastening part and extend from the bearing surface. The suspension device has a wall spaced apart from the bearing surface. A side of the wall facing the bearing surface extends up to a stop region of the suspension device moulded onto the bearing surface.
The reinforcement member has a suspension opening through which the suspension device can pass for suspension in the suspension device, said suspension opening being delimited by an opening edge. In a suspension position of the reinforcement member, a bearing portion of the opening edge lies on the stop region. In order to adopt the suspension position, the bearing portion is movable between the wall side and the bearing surface in the direction of the stop region. At least one catch opening is provided on the reinforcement member. By moving the bearing portion between the wall side and the stop surface in the direction of the stop region, the catch opening may be pushed via the catch member. The catch member may be received in the catch opening in a locking manner as soon as the suspension position has been reached.
The disadvantage of this is the time-consuming preparation of the connection of the fastening part and the reinforcement member, inadequate alignment of the reinforcement member in respect of the cover member and therefore only limited compliance with the small gap dimensions required in the assembly state in order to give the impression of quality, combined with a high scrap rate associated with a high level of expenditure on subsequent adjustment.